What Is Reality?

Big question, isn’t it? I like Philip K. Dick’s answer. “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” Dick was a novelist and science fiction writer but I don’t think there’s much fiction in his answer. However, is there more than one reality? This newsletter explores this question.

First, there is the reality we create for ourselves which we very much believe in, and which goes away the moment we change our minds. The second reality is the one Lao Tzu writes about in his Tao Te Ching which – as we shall see – is much more like Dick’s reality. We will also explore whether we can choose the reality we live in, and what the consequences are. That should keep us busy for a while, and I think we’ll have an interesting time. Let’s get started.

For all practical purposes, as we live our everyday lives, the world is the way we think it is. We know the sun comes up every day, and indeed it does. We know we put groceries in the fridge yesterday, and indeed they are still there today (except for what I ate for dinner last night). For most of us, our five senses do a pretty good job of providing us with useful information. And we use that information to navigate more or less successfully through the world we find ourselves in.

The world we experience also changes, our senses tell us about it, and we adjust what we believe accordingly. In other words, we generally change our minds based on what we experience. Until we don’t. Sometimes reality isn’t the way we believe it should be, and that’s where the trouble starts. We cling to our beliefs; reality doesn’t cling to anything – it just is what it is – and we are left in the middle trying to live with the mismatch. This causes stress, frustration, and what the Tao Te Ching calls “confusion and sorrow.”

What is this version of reality that we’re clinging to? Well, the Tao Te Ching suggests we call it nothing less than an illusion. Illusions come and go; reality doesn’t. Lao Tzu’s Master understands this. “He has no will of his own. He dwells in reality, and lets all illusions go” (chapter 38). We tend to cling to our will. We don’t see it as an illusion at all. And that’s where the confusion comes in.

Lao Tzu has more to say about the reality the Master lives in. For a start, it doesn’t come and go. It is what it is. It always was what it is. And it always will be what it is. No coming and going.

Well, we might say, you have to stand pretty far back from what we experience from day to day to experience that reality! And the answer is, yes you do. But when you do so, something really interesting happens. Time disappears and we find ourselves in the presence of an unchanging eternity.

Whoa! Time to slow down. Sounds a bit far-fetched. First, what do you mean by that? Second, how do you know it’s true? Third, what difference does it make?

Okay. Time to look at that second reality we referred to at the start of this newsletter. Here’s Lao Tzu taking a shot at describing it. “There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born. It is serene. Empty. Solitary. Unchanging. Infinite. Eternally present. It is the mother of the universe. For lack of a better name, I call it the Tao” (chapter 25).

Wait a minute. “…before the universe was born” and “eternally present” at the same time? That doesn’t make sense. Can you tell me more about this “Tao”?

Lao Tzu says that, unfortunately, the answer is no. “The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal Name” (chapter 1). There’s nothing to say about it. Why not? Because anything we say could never describe it. What’s more, our words can change from one moment to the next. The Tao doesn’t change because it is beyond moments; it is outside of time. Do we have a word for that? Yes we do, the word is “eternal.”

I think Lao Tzu is telling us there are two realities. There’s the one we experience on a daily basis, the one that comes and goes and changes. We form beliefs about it and generally adjust them based on what we experience. And it seems to work well enough for the time being.

Then there’s another reality which is beyond all that. This is the eternal reality. It encompasses not only the time being, but also everything else in a Oneness/Wholeness that is beyond time. This reality includes what we experience, our beliefs about it, as well as everything we think we know, everything we don’t yet know, and everything we can never know.

Wait what? Something that encompasses the known, the unknown, and the unknowable? Yep. And what do we call that? Well, as we've seen, Lao Tzu says, “For lack of a better name, I call it the Tao” (chapter 25).

So, let’s come back down to earth and look at the third question “What difference does it make?” We might put it more bluntly and ask “So what?” Let’s say “How is any of that relevant to how I live my daily life? I’d rather trust my beliefs based on what I experience. I’ve made a big investment in learning through trial and lots of error. Is Lao Tzu suggesting I should let all that go?”

I’ll let Lao Tzu off the hook and answer that for myself.

I think what I’ve learned through trial and error (as well as less painful means like learning from others or through study) is fine for navigating my everyday world. As long as I don’t cling to my beliefs, remember to adjust them when necessary, and don’t get hung up on good and bad and right and wrong and all the other things I may think about – then all my knowledge and beliefs are fine as far as they go. The trouble is that, in the grand scheme of things, they don’t go very far. What’s more I seem to have a bad habit of clinging to my ideas which causes me all kinds of grief.

I think Lao Tzu simply points out what happens when I let go and trust something bigger than what I can grasp with my mind. He suggests my varieties of grief are like living in the dark. Another option would be to keep my mind open and at one with something else. “The Master keeps her mind always at one with the Tao; that is what gives her her radiance. The Tao is ungraspable. How can her mind be at one with it? Because she doesn’t cling to ideas” (chapter 21).

So, we’re back to where we started. “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” We’re looking at the difference between a “reality which is good enough for the time being” versus an “eternal reality." Which shall we trust? Lao Tzu suggests our choice makes the difference between living in the dark and living in the light; between living in “confusion and sorrow” and living in “peace and serenity.” That’s enough to make you think twice—before hopefully letting go of thought altogether and trusting something bigger.

How about you? Do you tend to live with the version of reality which is good enough for the time being? Do you wonder about an eternal reality? Which one do you tend to live in, and what do you experience as a result? Tough questions, I know. But they’re worth asking. And the answers can be interesting.

If you have any thoughts you’d like to share, you can get in touch with me by:

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Thanks for reading. Please feel free to share this newsletter.

Francis

IN OTHER NEWS...

Past newsletters are here: www.francispringmill.com/newsletter-archive

In Harmony with the Tao: A Guided Journey into the Tao Te Ching is available here. There Is No Somewhere Else: Insights from the Tao Te Ching is available here.

Synopses and reviews for both books are on www.francispringmill.com/books

If you have enjoyed my books and have a spare couple of minutes, I'd love it if you could leave an Amazon review so more people can discover them. (The customer review link for In Harmony with the Tao is here, and for There Is No Somewhere Else is here.)